AARP Pushes the ADU Solution

When an organization representing 38 million older Americans takes a stand, attention must be paid. For nearly two decades the organization, formerly known as the American Association of Retired People, has supported accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as an affordable housing solution for older adults. It started with a model ADU code some 19 years ago, but recent years and months have seen a heightened activism by AARP in this direction.

Heading a relatively new division called AARP’s Livable Communities, Danielle Arigone has advanced a multi-pronged approach to creating such communities for the elderly, including urban planning, transportation and housing. Much of this has involved reaching out to communities throughout the country to encourage age-friendly development. As of now, some 360 communities have been officially designated by AARP as age-friendly.

Last year Livable Communities conducted a survey finding that 75% of older adults wanted to age in their communities, but that in many cases their housing was either oversized for their needs and abilities or too expensive to access, e.g., independent and assisted living institutions. “Communities have come at this in various ways,” she says, “but the most popular has been ADUs.”

Interest has been expressed in all small house models discussed in this blog: attached, detached, backyard granny pods, microapartments, tiny houses on either foundations or wheels. “We’re focusing on getting all the information we can into these people’s hands,” Arigone says.

AARP has developed, for example, a written ADU guide for Louisville, Kentucky and has worked with mayors throughout the Chicago region to conduct ADU workshops.

Last year the organization co-sponsored an exhibit at the National Building Museum called Making Room, which showed various approaches to meeting 21st century housing needs for a changing America: more people living alone or with roommates, extended families, aging in place and, particularly relevant to ADUs, empty- nesters—seniors wishing to move from their long-time family homes to places that, while still safe and comfortable, are more affordable and easier to maintain.

AARP Livable Communities’ specific exhibit for Making Room was an empty-nester-oriented 250 square foot microapartment, featuring many of the ingenious arrangements in furniture design, layout and storage that have been discussed elsewhere in this blog (see below, “Multi-use furniture enabling small spaces”), featuring such “universal” (aging-friendly) design items as motor-operated beds and adjustable countertops.

In early May, Arigone says, AARP Livable Communities will publish a general guide to ADUs for the nation at-large, still another major step toward validation of this alternative. Look for this blog’s report on the guide in a couple weeks.

And keep your eyes open for any AARP initiatives on ADUs in your communities.